The Eastern University men's basketball team was well aware of what was on the line going into their home game with King's this evening. The winner of tonight's contest would move into second place in the congested Freedom Conference standings and would be well-positioned to try to earn a home game in the post-season. In a league where home teams win nearly 70% of the time, this game was big. The Eagles rose to the occasion with a 70-55 win. Martin Soaries exploded for 23 of his game-high 26 points in the final 23 minutes of play to lead all scorers in the win.

The two teams traded baskets early before King's (10-10, 6-3 Freedom) built a five point edge midway through the period of a Dan Maguschak basket in transition. Senior captain Chris Myers then ended a four minute drought for the Eagles with a three pointer from just left of the top of the circle to cut the Monarch lead to 15-13.

Myers then poked a ball free on the ensuing possession. Paul Trusty wound up with the ball in his hands at the time line. The junior forward took a dribble then wisely held the ball momentarily and found Soaries on the run. Soaries attacked the lane and pitched the ball to Collin Whipple in the corner for an open three and a one-point lead.

The teams traded baskets until the four minute mark. Adam Brasky tied the game for King's with an open three pointer with 3:50 to play. At this point, Soaries, who had been limiting the effectiveness of King's sharpshooter Mike Wagner on the one end of the floor, took over on the offensive end. The speedy sophomore scored seven points and added an assist in an 11-3 run to close out the half. King's defended the final possession well and batted a ball out of bounds with a few seconds remaining. The Eastern inbounds play broke down, but Soaries made it work as he buried a 25 footer with a pair of defenders in his face as time expired to give the Eagles a 36-28.

Head Coach Matt Nadelhoffer said of the final stretch, "Martin can take over games like that. He has great speed and quickness, and once he starts to feel it, he is just moving at a different speed. The difference between an eight point lead and a five point lead is pretty dramatic."

The Eagles had a balanced attack through the first half. Soaries led all scorers with nine at the break. Whipple had seven, and Derek Wright had six. Kevin Conroy led the guests with seven points and seven rebounds. Eastern entered the games as one of the teams with the least three point attempts in the region (only Philadelphia Biblical University had attempted fewer threes). They did not exactly fire it up at every turn tonight, but they made good use of the long shot when they took it. Four different players connected from distance, and they made 4-8 attempts in each half. The Monarchs hit 3-8 in the opening half.

When Alex Nelson connected on a three pointer to complete a 10-4 run just four minutes into the second half, it looked as though the game might turn into a high-scoring affair. The game, however, turned slow quickly, and it took the Eagles nearly 12 minutes to score their next ten points. 

Part of the slowdown was by design. With a lead in the second half, the Eagles controlled tempo and looked to work deep into shot clocks. King's cut the lead to 46-37, but Wright answered with a three from the wing as the shot clock wound down to bump the Eastern advantage up to 12. After King's again chipped away again, Wright hit another three to push the Eastern lead back to 10.

Over the next five minutes of action, King's outscored Eastern 4-2. The Eagles put up empty possessions, but they were long possession. Fouls by the visitors and offensive rebounds gave Myers and Soaries the chance to run possessions to nearly a minute, and the Eagles, with the lead, did just that. After Jim Schule scored an inside basket to trim the Eastern advantage to 54-48, Soaries began to assert himself again.

Soaries worked his way into the paint and earned a pair of foul shots with 4:21 to play. Ordinarily, foul shots would seem unremarkable, but Soaries' two attempts were the first for the Eagles in over 75 minutes of action between the two teams on the year. The Eagles would hit 8-9 over the final 4:21.

An odd play almost really hurt the Eagles on the next defensive possession. Conroy missed a pair of free throws, but the rebound caromed off several different people and into Schule's hands. Shule powered in the lay-up and was fouled by Kyle Malloy. He converted the three point play and Malloy went to the bench with his fifth foul. 

The Eagles, up just five, turned the ball over on their next possession. With Malloy out, Wright drew the task of trying to contend with Conroy in the post. The bigger Conroy got position deep and after backing in, went to shoot. Wright, realizing he was not going to win the battle with bulk, instead turned to guile and stepped away and picked the bigger player's pocket. 

The Eagles, however, were not out of the woods. They had not made a field goal in over six minutes, and their lead was just five. Myers again stepped into the spotlight to end a draught. The lone senior in the Eastern rotation hit a Steve Nash style floater as the shot clock expired to give the home side a 7 point lead. Assistant coach Bob McTamney spoke of the shot after the game. "That was the biggest shot of the game for us. No question. We needed it and Myers stepped up and made it." Nadelhoffer spoke about how that shot is one that the players work on regularly. He said, "The guys do the Steve Nash workout together, and that shot is one that they have to do in the workout. I'm not sure Chris takes that shot earlier in the year, but it's a sign that we are still getting better."

Soaries then scored eight of the next ten points, including 4-4 from the foul line to ice the game. Nadelhoffer said of the game, "We had some very concrete goals coming into this game about what we wanted to do defensively, and Martin was at the center of that with the job he did on Wagner. He made good decisions about when to be assertive and when to let the game come to him."

Nadelhoffer continued to talk about the game. "Before the game we talked about the moment, and how it was our time to step into that moment. I was really proud of the way we came together tonight. This was a huge win for us. We enjoy playing on our home floor, and we wanted to defend it. I think it is huge for us that we backed up Saturday's win with another good win."

Wright had 12 points and was the only other Eastern player in double figures. Whipple finished with nine points and seven boards, and Nelson finished with eight points and nine rebounds. The Eagles hit 49% of their shots for the day. King's led by Conroy's 12 points and game-high 12 rebounds shot just 40%. They made just 1-7 three pointers in the second half. 

The Eagles are now tied with King's in second place in the Freedom, but they own the tie-breaker over King's with the season sweep. Eastern will return to league action this Saturday with another critical contest at Misericordia. The Cougars beat Wilkes this evening to improve to 5-4 in Conference play.